Achariya suggested last week that we highlight our favorite posemaker. It’s hard to do because there are so many great ones, and that is why I have dawdled. Still, if I have to choose only one, that one must be Luth Brodie of Reel Expression.

There are many reasons she is among my favorites, but the one that makes her my number one choice and most frequently used posemaker is her naming system that makes her poses so easy to use. I put all my poses in one pose pad – and go to them by number. Other posemakers whom I also admire name their poses haphazardly, so they don’t sort into a set in the pose pad.  Reel Expressions poses stay in sets of 12, so I can estimate where the pose I want is and enter the number.  Also, because they stay in sets in the pose pad, I don’t have to flip through all of them when I want to shoot a few from one set.  You have no idea what a timesaver the plain but sensible naming system is for me.

Another thing I really like about Luth’s work is that she takes wild leaps of imagination and comes up with ingenious sets like the Cell Block Tango  poses and the Cell Block pose props. She has also done pose sets based on the musical Cabaret. She makes flawless pose props that are easily adjusted and simple to use from railings, to ledges to now jail cells.

She is precise and discriminating in developing her poses, taking care that there are not wild breaks in the torso, shoulder and arms. Her poses are ideal for showing off clothing – and have varied hand positions so I can quickly find one that shows off the clothes, looks interesting, sets a mood and doesn’t bury body parts inside the clothing. One of the aesthetic principles at MDR Photo Studio is to capture it all in-world and to limit the photoshopping to lighting as much as possible. The care she takes in developing poses makes it possible to shoot dozens of shots that do not require photoshopping to fix horrible texture breaks.

So, in a nutshell, those are the main reasons why Reel Expression is my #1 pose preference. Now, to show off the cell block and the poses, I decided to dress a bit noir with Fear & Clothing low rise striped pants, a Sex Kitten top from Sn@tch and a long cardigan from Tres Blah!. Redgraves Biker Boots and Dark Mouse jewelry provide the best in accessories. The hair is from Pixel Dust and the skin from Your Skin.

****STYLE NOTES******
Promotional Copies are denoted by a Bold R

• Poses: Reel Expression
• Skin: Your Skin Chiara Reloaded 03 Eyeliner Rose R
• Eyes: Poetic Color Night Forest
• Lashes: CyberNetic
• Hair: Pixel Dust Hope
• Jacket: Tres Blah long cardigan black
• Blouse: Sn@tch Sex Kitten Body Suit Silver
• Pants: Fear & Clothing Lowrise Striped Trousers R
• Shoes: Redgrave Biker Boots
• Jewelry: Dark Mouse Abstract Extravagance